Casco Bay Frames & Gallery

A customer had an idea for using old floorboards they removed during a renovation for a frame. They brought us the wood and we worked with them to decide on the appropriate width for their artwork. Two weeks later they had a great framed piece that will be enjoyed for years.

A young man from Bowdoinham was picked to throw out the first pitch at the Sea Dog game this summer. His father came to us to frame the ball, a ticket and a picture of him throwing the pitch and gave it to him for Christmas.

Gretchen Roy of the Szanton Company in Portland came to us in the spring of 2010 to discuss their project of using histoical photographs to decorate their latest renovation in Biddeford. The renovation had already begun on the 166 year-old mill into 66 mixed income apartments overlooking the dramatic river and falls separating Saco and Biddeford, Maine. Gretchen's plan to use historical photos and artifacts helps to show people what life was like when the building was operated as a textile mill. After an initial site visit, we suggested photograph sizes, frame color and mat choices that would fit their budget. Incorporated in the fitness center are large flush mounted Artiplaqs , a system of mounting photographs which is in keeping with the modern feel of the equipment. Our installation crew spent two days in October and November hanging, with security fasteners, over 70 pieces throughout the mill's common areas.

Did you know that mat borders do more than add color around your art? The original intent of mats was two fold. First was to create a space so the glass wouldn’t come in contact with the art and second was to provide a field of visual relief that prevented the frame from crowding the art and to set the art apart from the rest of the room decor to easily focus on it without distraction. Those concepts are still important today, so keep them in mind. Generously proportioned mat borders will help present your art, making it look its best.

Our latest corporate framing and installation project was at the new Simulation Center at Maine Medical Center. We were contacted by Paul Lewandowski and Erin Anderson from the architect firm SMRT to frame and install 22 pieces in time for the grand opening at the beginning of October, 2010. With only two weeks from start to finish we met with them in the gallery to finalized frame choices, mat design and hanging hardware. The job included building five extra-deep shadowboxes for pictures of medical instruments. The "stent" shadowbox is fabricated in-house using two stock frames, removing the lip from one and joining them back-to-back to get the 3.5 inches of depth. These two large photographs are framed with Neilsen Florentine Silver aluminum frames and hung using a three-point secuity hanging system. In addition to deterring theft, the hanging system eliminates shifting of the pieces against the wall. Down one of the hallways we hung 6 historical photos of emergency ro...

Here is the fish tank complete with frame:

This is a project we did for Brett Johnson of Maine Street Design for a client of his. The challenge was to build a frame to fit around a four foot by 8 foot fish tank. Here is the "before" shot of the tank: